Infirmed, injured, ill, and aged people often require additional support or stability assistance from walking aid canes. Walking aid canes are generally designed in two basic configurations: canes with fixed, blunt-end ferrules and canes with various wheel configurations. Canes that utilize fixed, blunt-end ferrules generally lack any wheels, but typically offer the most stability. However, the user of these canes typically must be lift the cane off the ground and repositioned himself or herself with each step. This, in turn, may cause a brief period of non-support, during which the infirmed user may fall. Weak users of these canes may also tire due to the prolonged use of the constant lifting for repositioning. This, in turn, may also lead to repetitive stress injury and limited mobility. On the other hand, canes with wheels and/or support legs generally do not require a user to lift the cane for repositioning the cane during use. Thus, these types of canes can provide continuous support while minimizing the potential for repetitive stress injury.
Ordinary wheeled canes often require the user to have an intact sense of balance. When leaning on the cane, or applying a force in the direction where the wheels are facing, the user may cause the cane to unexpectedly roll in that direction, thereby causing the user to fall and/or become injured. Some of the canes have tried to mitigate this issue by adding user actuated breaking systems, such as with a hand brake, spring mounted leg brake, or a brake activated by significant applied downward force while the cane is perpendicular to the ground.
Current wheeled canes are significantly limited because they rely on the user's physical and mental response capacity to activate the brake to prevent a slide or fall. Unfortunately, the infirmed persons who need canes frequently do not have the reflexes necessary to activate the brakes in a consistently safe manner. Instead of stopping and stabilizing an off kilter infirm user, the canes frequently continue the momentum and cause even more injury than if the user had no cane at all. The spring-mounted leg brakes currently available do not stop the cane from sliding because the user does not react in the split second given to properly actuate the break.
This same problem also applies to canes with hand brakes. When the wheel(s) with the brake is off the ground (because the cane is not perpendicular to the ground due to the user leaning or loss of balance) the brake system is rendered ineffective. Indeed, the chances that the user will actually have time to use the brake is remote during a fall. Rather that activate the brake, most people react to the imbalance by tightly griping the cane handle(s) to try and stop a fall. Because wheeled canes with brakes require the user to react extraordinarily quickly, these wheeled canes do not passively arrest the imbalance and eventual fall of a user. That is, they are not “fail safe.”
Another problematic situation arises when a user tries to utilize wheeled canes at an angle such as attempting to exit a vehicle, climb a curb, climb stairs, or go up or down a hill or ramp. In these situations, the wheel(s) is often the first and only surface to initially contact the ground. If the wheel does not have a fully engaged brake applied or if the support leg/brake is not fully actuated and touching the ground at the same time as the wheel, any force applied to that wheel will cause the cane to slide in the direction of the wheel, resulting in a potential serious fall and injury.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved fail safe wheeled cane that aids in mobility, is easy to use, and that will, when utilized at an angle other than perpendicular to the ground surface or with a minimal downward force, cause the wheels to retract, such that the legs or base of the cane comes into contact with the ground and arrests the sliding of the wheels. Preferably, the leg or base of the cane is a stable, blunt-end ferrule or platform.
Regarding references that disclose wheeled and non-wheeled canes that fail to overcome the deficiencies discussed above, U.S. Pat. No. 4,044,784, issued to Smith, discloses a walking aid with a quad cane configuration blunt tipped legs without wheels. Smith is solely intended for support and not increased mobility or ease of use.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,001, issued to DiCarlo, discloses a convertible cane with one to multiple leg configurations through addition of legs to the base nexus by means of a fastener. DiCarlo lacks wheels on the ends and is solely for support and does not enhance mobility and is not easy to use.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,390,687, issued to Tsai, discloses a quad cane with detachable quadrupeds. Tsai has no wheels and thus fails to enhance the mobility of the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,244,869, issued to Jennings, discloses a walking cane with a plurality of legs including wheels. Jennings is very bulky and not very maneuverable. The legs of the Jennings cane are widely spaced apart and the wheels and legs are set up like a bike with a kickstand. This configuration requires the user to lean to the side in order to engage the ferrule. This unnecessary and dangerous leaning by the user diminishes stability and safety.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,422, issued to Sorrell, discloses a safety walker having front legs and rear wheels with backward resistant motion. The Sorrell walker also has a seat to prevent falling when using the device. This device is not a cane; is very bulky and heavy; and is designed for a much less mobile person.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,692,533, issued to Meltzer, discloses a combination quad walking cane with two wheels in the front and two blunt legs in the back. Meltzer discloses no means to safely disengage the wheels if the user were to use the cane on stairs or other surface non-level surface. Furthermore, if the user tilts the can away from the blunt legs, a slip may result while only the wheels are engaged.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,158,453, issued to Nasco, discloses a quad-wheeled cane with a front mounted brake. Essentially the base of Nasco looks like the old four-wheeled skates with a brake in front that is engaged by tilting the back of the skate upward. Nasco is very unstable and takes significant coordination to use safely. Simply put, the Nasco may create more problems than it solves.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,252,105, issued to Otis, discloses a two-wheeled cane, wherein the wheels are in-line and very spaced apart. The wheels are not retractable and have a front and back brake that are engaged by tilting the cane. Not only does this device is lack the stability of a quadruped, but it is hard to imagine the user being able to engage the brakes because it is almost impossible to tilt the cane while using the cane for support. Again, this cane creates more problems than it solves.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,705 issued to Nasco, discloses a tri-wheeled cane with a breaking method that is utilized when a downward force is applied to the wheelbase. Pyramidal canes have a higher center of gravity and are therefore less stable than quad canes. Since no legs or bumpers extend beyond the wheelbase, utilizing this three-wheeled cane at an angle will cause slippage without the ability to safely engage the brake.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,261,114, issued to Karasin, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,334,592, issued to Tartagila, disclose similar breaking, four-wheeled canes with a spring mounted brake and dual cane handle extending from the wheelbase. Downward force applied, or similar method, triggers a blunt foot attachment to drop down between the two front wheels thus acting like a brake. These references are deficient because they have no passive failsafe brake. The user must trigger the brake using quick reflexes that most cane users lack. If a slip or loss of balance occurs when the user is not in a position to properly actuate the brake thru downward force on the front handle or through the trigger mechanism, the brake will not be applied and the user will be injured in a bad fall.
The limitations of the currently available canes are further discussed in Bateni H, Maki B E., Assistive Devices for Balance and Mobility: Benefits, Demands, and Adverse Consequences, Arch Phys Med Rehabil 2005, 86:134-45, the contents of which are expressly incorporated herein by this references.
Thus, what is need is a quad wheeled and quad footed cane with retractable wheels and a fail-safe brake.